The Date
by Narutolovesraman
Summary: Luffy receives an invitation to a prestigious party. But apparently, instead of being able to take his whole crew, he can only take a single person. So what happens when Nami is forced to be his plus one? Two-Shot. LuNa implied.


**So…I just saw the movie Strong World. It was absolutely amazing. Though…I could barely understand a couple of words as it's all raw. ._. But LuNa moments galore! And then that crying scene in the latest chapter…man. I'm totally loving Oga as of now. :] Who can complain about a little fan service? So yeah, in response, I had to come up with another two-shot about Luffy and Nami. Enjoy. :3**

**Post script: And why does One Piece have less than 10k stories but Bleach *which I thought was less popular* has over 40k? **

**Though I'm a bigger Bleach and Ichiruki fan, I still want my LuNa. =.= **

* * *

"Nami, you sure did great in finding this place!" Luffy stuffed another helping of meat into his mouth. "This stuff is great!" A trace of sauce dripped from his mouth. Onlookers were looking at him with a mixture of awe and disgust.

His navigator barely spared him a glance. She was busy calculating what Luffy…with all this meat was going to cost her. Not to mention a certain swordsman who was having his fill of alcohol.

"Want some, Nami?" Luffy held out a fork skewered with a generous helping of meat lathered in sauce.

Nami hid a grimace. "I'm good for now."

"If you say so," he replied and proceeded to bite into the steak. He grinned in boyish delight, ravishing the taste. "This is even better than Sanji's cooking!"

A hand planted itself rather viciously on top of Luffy's hat. "What was that?"

"It's Sanji!" Luffy beamed at him for a precious moment before he immediately continued chomping.

Zoro looked at Sanji, diverging for a instant, from his beer. "Seems like you could learn a thing or two from this bartender, Sanji."

The blonde cook twitched viciously. "What was that, marimo?"

Zoro slammed his hands angrily on the bar table. "What was that you shitty cook?"

The two men turned to face each other, anger radiating off of them.

Nami listened to this conversation in growing frustration. Just as she was about to yell at them to shut up, a glass smashed into the wall directly behind the two infuriated men.

"What the hell…" The two whipped around only to see an extremely pissed off bartender.

"I run a clean bar," she said, monotonously. Despite her neutral tone, her aura was deadly. "If you're going to be a customer, that's fine and dandy, but if not…" She slammed her cleaning cloth on the table. "Then get the hell outta my bar!"

Nami, Sanji and Zoro gaped at her.

"Got it," Zoro muttered, resuming his place next to Nami.

Sanji looked horrified and grabbed at the back of Zoro's shirt. "Why didn't you tell me the bartender's gorgeous!" After receiving a death glare from the woman, he took his place sadly next to Zoro. "I'll have whatever he's having," he mumbled, gesturing to Zoro's beer. He took out the cigarette that was perpetually in his mouth, and blew out a stream of smoke.

Nami sighed, frustrated and looked up to give the bartender an apologetic look. "They're not usually like that."

The bartender raised an eyebrow and Nami looked at her sheepishly. "At least they're good sometimes."

"Don't worry about it." The bartender turned to help another man with his drink. "You should see some of the riffraff we get down here. Makes your boys look like saints."

Nami looked over at Luffy skeptically, still salivating and stuffing his mouth full of meat. "If you say so." A couple of moments later a hush fell over the bar. Nami's brow temporarily furrowed in confusion.

"What…"

A man, rather richly dressed, had stepped into the bar. A second later and the hush was destroyed by a flurry of whispers.

"Lord Marlow is here."

"Lord Marlow…"

"I thought he only came in at night, it's midday right now!"

"What's he doing here?"

"Lord Marlow!"

The man, of whom Nami could only assume to be Marlow, took a seat next to Luffy - the only person seemingly unfazed by this Lord's arrival.

She frowned slightly…sitting next to Luffy ripping through meat probably wasn't such a good idea. Marlow seemed to be gauging the boy next to him, yet he wasn't directly looking at him. How he managed this, Nami had no idea.

"Do you like that meat, boy?" Marlow didn't turn to look at Luffy, but it was obvious the question had been directed at him.

Luffy stopped in mid-bite. "Hmm?" The captain looked at what he was eating, then turned back to the man with a rather large grin on his face. Which wouldn't have been so bad if he didn't have rather large quantities of meat still hanging from his mouth. "It's awesome, old man."

Nami could tell from the immediate hush that once again fell over the bar that that was probably the wrong thing to say. Marlow was looking at Luffy with a mixture of repulsion and irritation but then the negative emotions melted away and he looked immensely amused. He burst out laughing, huge guffaw's racking his body. Apparently, whatever crisis had been impending was over, and the rest of the bar became alive again.

"I like you kid," he said, when he had calmed down. "Bartender, get this boy another plate of meat."

"Right away," she said, disappearing into the back of the bar.

Luffy looked at him in delight. "I like you too, old man!"

Nami resisted the urge to knock Luffy upside head. How could he not realize that calling someone 'old man' could be considered rude?

"The world needs more free spirited people like you," Marlow's face showed the tiniest trace of a smile.

Or maybe it could also be considered a good thing? She could be wrong. It wasn't unheard of.

The man reached into his coat pocket and procured an item of interest. Luffy glanced at it. "What's that?" He mumbled, in between bites.

Nami snuck a look at what Marlow was holding. An envelope richly decorated in gold. She held her breath. It couldn't be…money? She could have hugged Luffy if he wasn't covered in meat sauce.

"It's an invitation." Nami felt as if her world just came crashing down. She slammed her head down on the table. Marlow looked at her curiously. "Is she alright?"

"Who, Nami?" Luffy turned towards his navigator. "She's alright," he said, matter-of-factly. "She just gets like that sometimes."

"Well, I'll just leave it here for you," Marlow said, placing the envelope next to Luffy's diminishing plate of meat. He also placed some money on the table. "Everything he and his friends eat is on me."

Nami's head shot up with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"If it goes over what I've given you, I'll just pay the excess later."

"Thank you, Lord Marlow!" Nami beamed at him, radiating happiness. Then she turned to Luffy.

"Luffy," she hissed. "Thank him properly."

Luffy turned to face Marlow. "Thanks!" Nami glared daggers at him.

"That's the best you can do? He's paying for your meal that would've cost me…err…us, a heck of a lot!" She grabbed him by the collar.

"Remember boy," Marlow called out as he exited the bar, stopping Nami in mid-assault. "The party's tonight. I'm expecting you show."

"Got it, old man!" Nami's attention whipped back to Luffy.

"Like I said!" Sanji and Zoro looked at Luffy with mild pity as Nami appeared to be semi-strangling him. "You don't treat kind benefactors that way!"

"Err…"

Nami turned viciously away from Luffy. "What?" When she recognized the bartender she immediately calmed down. "Ah, sorry. This idiot confused me."

"Am I interrupting something?" She asked as she placed another pile of meat on Luffy's plate. Luffy's attention immediately returned to eating, and he wrangled himself out of Nami's grasp.

"Wh-What?" She regained her composure. "With this idiot?" She went back to her seat and glanced up at the bartender. "Not in a million years."

"There's no way that Nami-swan would get involved with that idiot!" Sanji chirped in. "And if he's bothering you, just say the word, Ms. Bartender, and I'll kick him out for you." He looked at her emphatically.

"_You're _bothering her, Sanji-kun." Nami glanced at him, annoyed.

"Ah, don't be jealous, Nami-swan. There's plenty of me to go around-" He was interrupted as Zoro's fist smashed down on his head.

"What was that for, you stupid swordsman?" He yelped, clutching his head.

"You're disturbing the peace." He muttered, sipping his beer. "Like she said, quiet down or get out."

Sanji gritted his teeth. "Yeah, yeah." He turned back to his beer.

"They're not always like that, huh?"

Nami put her head back down on the bar table. "Occasionally."

* * *

"So this is the invitation, huh?" Robin was stretched out along a beach chair, holding up the envelope to the light. Luffy was busy running around with Usopp and Chopper across the ship. Nami nodded, while casting an irritated glance at the three.

"Yeah, some Lord Marlow guy gave it to Luffy." As she looked at the three completely goofing off, she put a hand to her head. "Although the 'why' is beyond me."

"So I'm assuming it's some top notch party." Robin's face was unreadable behind her sunglasses.

"Yeah, probably." Nami leaned against the railings of the ship. The sea was calm, but of course, that was expected, them being anchored at port and all.

Robin had opened the letter and was now examining the contents of the invitation. "So it is apparently an invitation to one of the biggest parties of the century."

"Eh? Seriously?" Chopper had stopped in delight at this news. "So we all get to go to a huge party? With cake?" He started dancing around. "I'm so happy!"

Usopp laughed darkly. "Sorry Chopper, but I'm afraid only I can go." He pushed up his goggles, smartly, with his index finger.

Chopper stopped in mid-dance. "Ehhh! Really?"

"Oi. He's obviously lying," Zoro commented. He had finished polishing his swords and he was on his way back inside.

"Liar!" Chopper looked up at him rather comically upset before he resumed his dance. "But that means we all get to go to the party!"

"Yeah!" Luffy danced around with Chopper. "And there will probably be more meat!"

Nami's jaw dropped open. "After all that meat you ate, how can you still want more!"

"You can never get enough meat," he laughed, holding on to his hat to keep it from flying off with the wind mid-dance.

"Actually," Robin spoke up, interrupting their dancing. "Usopp is right."

"Ah, that so?" Chopper resumed his dance before stopping as realization struck him. "EHHH!"

Usopp's mouth dropped open. "I am?"

"Only one person can go, but it's not you, I'm afraid." She removed her glasses. "It's the captain, as that's who the invitation was given to."

Tears started to leak out of Chopper's eyes. "No way."

"Only me?" Luffy pointed at himself.

"Yeah…" Robin glanced at the invitation again. "…and one guest it seems."

Chopper brightened up immediately. "Then you'll take me, right Luffy?" He grabbed his leg. "I won't forgive you if you don't take me."

"Of course!" He grinned at Chopper.

"What, you have to take me, Luffy!" Usopp yelled. "You're going to leave me behind?"

"You're coming too, of course," Luffy grinned.

Nami ran a hand through her hair, annoyed. "I don't think you understand the meaning of _one _guest."

"I'll just take you, Robin, Brook, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, and Sanji," he said, matter-of-factly.

"You can't do that!" Nami and Chopper yelled in unison.

Luffy looked confused. "Why not?"

Nami let out a frustrated sigh. "You tell him, Robin."

"You can only invite one guest, Luffy."

"Ah, that so?"

Nami glanced up, even more riled. "Why do you understand it when she says it, but not me?"

"Because she said it." He looked at her, bemused.

"What kind of answer is…" Nami stopped. "I give up," she mumbled, flustered.

"But only one guest…who is Luffy gonna choose?" Usopp mulled. "It'd have to be someone with great poise and skill…someone who can represent the crew." He nodded twice in succession. "It has to be me!"

"It's not!" Nami and Chopper yelled, unanimously, once more.

"Look," Nami said, gesturing to Robin. "Why don't you guys just let Robin decide? She obviously knows more about these things than either of you guys."

Usopp and Chopper looked at each other and then turned back to Nami. Swift nods.

"Then it's settled? Whatever…whomever…Robin says goes, right? No complaints."

"None," they said, simultaneously.

"Count me in too," Sanji said, pulling himself into the conversation. "I want to sample some of their dishes."

"Eh!" Usopp and Chopper looked at him. "You too?"

"Me as well," Zoro said, appearing from the quarters. "It sounds interesting. And count Franky and Brook in too. They're just not here, as of the moment."

Nami shook her head in awe. "You guys must really want to go to this party. I honestly don't see what the big deal is."

Robin looked at her. "Well, I would have thought you would want to go."

"M-Me?" Nami looked at her startled. "Why?"

"All those rich people you could pilfer jewels off of…" Robin trailed off. Nami looked relieved at that line of reasoning.

"Too much trouble. I'm not in the mood to get hunted down by the richest people of this island. And if Luffy got invited, then not all of them can be rich, can they? It's a pain deciphering between fake jewels too…" Nami stopped mid-ramble. "Well, you get my drift."

She turned away from Robin to address the crew gathered before her. "So whatever she says, goes. No complaints?"

"None!"

Nami turned back to Robin with a smile. "All yours."

Robin sat up and turned to face the crew. They were all dead silent, waiting for judgment to be passed. There could only be one winner…

"Well, I had already decided who should go anyways."

Nami smiled. She actually wouldn't be surprised if Robin nominated…well, Robin. Simply because she herself thought it was the best choice. Which is why Nami left the decision up to her.

"Nami."

Nami snapped out of her reverie. "Yeah?"

"You're going."

There was dead silence.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Nami exploded. "I am the only one who DOESN'T want to go to that party."

"Yeah!" Chopper joined in. "You were supposed to pick one of us!"

Robin held up the invitation. "This is a party."

"We know that!" Usopp cried.

"And a plus one, usually means that the guest should be a girl. And I thought there would be no complaints…?" She looked specifically over at Nami.

The jaws of Usopp and Chopper dropped.

"She's right, I guess." Zoro looked thoughtful. "I should have realized that."

"Ahh, all that food I could've tried," Sanji shook his head in remorse.

"What are you guys doing, accepting this!" Nami cried, outraged. She rounded on Robin. "If that's the case, why couldn't you nominate yourself?"

Robin looked at Nami calmly. "I thought it would be far more interesting to see our navigator go on a date with the captain."

A faint blush stained Nami's cheeks. "D-Date?" She recovered. "With that idiot?"

At the mention of the word 'date,' Sanji had stopped in mid-step towards the kitchen. A killing aura had surrounded him.

"Date?" Luffy crossed his arms. He turned to Robin. "What's a date?"

"Luffy…on a date…with Nami-swan…" Zoro grabbed the cook's arms. "I'll knock you out!" Sanji raged. "No way you're taking Nami-swan on a date, you big oaf!" Even Zoro was having some trouble restraining him. It seemed as if Sanji was beyond reason. "Let go of me, marimo!" Zoro snapped.

"What the hell was that!"

Robin smiled. "A date is…"

"Robin, don't you dare!" Nami yelled out, over the confusion.

All in all, utter chaos had broken out over the Thousand Sunny. (A/N: Many thanks to KissMeUnderABlueMoon for the correction :D)

* * *

**Yep, so I'll end it there. I wanted to continue, but I thought that was as good a place as any to stop. Like I previously stated, this plans to only be a two-shot, but it might be extended…if certain things happen along the storyline. **

**I apologize for any OCC-ness and any and all discrepancies/grammatical errors. The OCC-ness may be due to my lack of involvement with characters other than Nami and Luffy…(yeah, I know that's pretty sad…), and the latter is due to the fact that I never can catch all of my mistakes in read-throughs. **

**But anyways, yeah, this chapter was only the 'introductory' part, where Luffy gets the invite, and it's revealed that Nami's the one going with him. More meat *figuratively* of the story, next time, of course. **

**How much romance this ends with, is up to you the reviewer. :] This could just end with a cute ending that doesn't actually get Nami and Luffy together or it could…I'm actually leaning more towards the former, but if you guys have different opinions, lemme know!**

**Once again, I appreciate any suggestions on this story. It always helps me to improve. And any reviews are DEFINETELY appreciated (and it also makes sure I actually finish this fic). **

**So, for now, only one more chapter to go! **


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